Publications
This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 41894
Untargeted lipidomics for determining cellular and sub-cellular responses in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) liver cells following exposure to complex mixtures in U.S. streams
Surface waters often contain a variety of chemical contaminants potentially capable of producing adverse outcomes in both humans and wildlife due to impacts from industrial, urban, and agricultural activity. Here, we report the results of a zebrafish liver (ZFL) cell-based lipidomics approach to assess the potential ecotoxicological effects of complex contaminant mixtures using water collected fro
Authors
Huajun Zhen, Quincy Teng, Jonathan D Mosley, Timothy W. Collette, Yang Yue, Paul M. Bradley, Drew R. Ekman
Integrating wildlife habitat models with state-and-transitions models to enhance the management of rangelands for multiple objectives
State-and-transition models (STMs) are tools used in rangeland management to describe linear and nonlinear vegetation dynamics as conceptual models. STMs can be improved by including additional ecosystem services, such as wildlife habitat, so that managers can predict how local populations might respond to state changes and to illustrate the tradeoffs in managing for different ecosystem services.
Authors
Jennifer M. Timmer, Crystal Y. Tipton, Retta A. Bruegger, David J. Augustine, Christopher P.K. Dickey, Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, Cameron L. Aldridge
A hidden Markov model for estimating age-specific survival when age and size are uncertain
Estimates of age-specific survival probabilities are needed for age-structured population models and to inform conservation decisions. However, determining the age of individuals in wildlife populations is often problematic. We present a hidden Markov model for estimating age-specific survival from capture–recapture or capture–recapture–recovery data when age is unknown and indicators of age, such
Authors
Timothy A. Gowan, Michael D. Tringali, Jeffrey A. Hostetler, Julien Martin, Leslie I. Ward-Geiger, Jennifer M Johnson
Quantifying the demographic vulnerabilities of dry woodlands to climate and competition using rangewide monitoring data
Climate change is expected to alter the distribution and abundance of tree species, impacting ecosystem structure and function. Yet, anticipating where this will occur is often hampered by a lack of understanding of how demographic rates, most notably recruitment, vary in response to climate and competition across a species range. Using large-scale monitoring data on two dry woodland tree species
Authors
Robert K Shriver, Charles Yackulic, David M. Bell, John B. Bradford
Using tree swallows to assess reductions in PCB exposure as a result of dredging at Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) sites in the Upper Midwest, USA
Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) were used to assess the effectiveness of reducing polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure to wildlife as a result of contaminated sediment removal at locations across the Great Lakes under two dredging scenarios, full or spot dredging. For comparative purposes, other locations where no dredging occurred were also assessed. Calculating accumulation rate, from the
Authors
Christine M. Custer, Thomas W. Custer, Paul Dummer
Sea star wasting disease pathology in Pisaster ochraceus shows a basal-to-surface process affecting color phenotypes differently
Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) refers to a suite of poorly described non-specific clinical signs including abnormal posture, epidermal ulceration, and limb autotomy (sloughing) causing mortalities of over 20 species of sea stars and subsequent ecological shifts throughout the northeastern Pacific. While SSWD is widely assumed to be infectious, with environmental conditions facilitating disease pr
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Tina M. Weatherby, Christopher M. DeRito, Ryan M. Besemer, Ian Hewson
Wildfires and global change
No single factor produces wildfires; rather, they occur when fire thresholds (ignitions, fuels, and drought) are crossed. Anomalous weather events may lower these thresholds and thereby enhance the likelihood and spread of wildfires. Climate change increases the frequency with which some of these thresholds are crossed, extending the duration of the fire season and increasing the frequency of dry
Authors
Juli G. Pausas, Jon Keeley
Impacts of sediment removal from and placement in coastal barrier island systems
Executive SummaryOn June 24, 2019, Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, sent a letter to the directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to request their assistance in answering questions regarding coastal sediment resource management within the Coastal Barrier Resources System as defined by the Coastal Barrier
Authors
Jennifer L. Miselis, James G. Flocks, Sara Zeigler, Davina Passeri, David R. Smith, Jill Bourque, Christopher R. Sherwood, Christopher G. Smith, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Kathryn Smith, Kristen Hart, David C. Kazyak, Alicia Berlin, Bianca Prohaska, Teresa Calleson, Kristi Yanchis
Synthetic aperture radar and optical mapping used to monitor change and replacement of Phragmites australis marsh in the Lower Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mapping of density as an enhancement of Phragmites australis optical live fractional cover (LFC) mapping was carried out in the lower Mississippi Delta during 2016 to 2019. Also, as part of the study, the replacement of P. australis with elephant-ear was analyzed. To that end, yearly maps from 2016 to 2019 of L-band SAR horizontal send, vertical receive (HV) data rep
Authors
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Amina Rangoonwala
Diverse patterns of migratory timing, site use, and site fidelity by Alaska-breeding Whimbrels
Birds that conduct long-distance migrations exhibit varied patterns of consistency in migratory timing and site use. Understanding variation in these traits among populations can help uncover mechanisms driving migratory behaviors and identify potential population threats. Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) are long-distance migratory shorebirds with a Holarctic breeding distribution, and recent studie
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Christopher M. Harwood, Lee Tibbitts, Nils Warnock, Robert E. Gill
Distribution and demography of coastal cactus wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) in southern San Diego County, California—2020 data summary
Executive SummarySurveys for coastal Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) were done in 378 established plots in southern San Diego County in 2020, encompassing three genetic clusters (Otay, Lake Jennings, and Sweetwater/Encanto genetic clusters). Two surveys were completed at each plot between March 1 and July 31. Cactus Wrens were detected in 131 plots (35 percent of plots). This is a sl
Authors
Suellen Lynn, Barbara E. Kus
Greater Yellowstone climate assessment: Past, present, and future climate change in the greater Yellowstone watersheds
The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) is one of the last remaining large and nearly intact temperate ecosystems on Earth. GYA was originally defined in the 1970s as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which encompassed the minimum range of the grizzly bear. The boundary now includes about 22 million acres (8.9 million ha) in northwestern Wyoming, south central Montana, and eastern Idaho (Figure ES-1).
Authors
Steven W. Hostetler, Cathy Whitlock, Bryan Shuman, David Liefert, Charles Wolf Drimal, Scott Bischke